Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
by musicgurl21284
Summary: Four one-shots inspired in part by Kanye West’s Stronger and my love of one Timothy McGee. These four scenes could have happened in canon, were all witnessed by Kate and Tony, and give them new insight to their newest team member. Spoilers for "Bone Yard"


Four one-shots? inspired in part by Kanye West's Stronger and my love of one Timothy McGee. These four scenes could have happened in canon, were all witnessed by Kate and Tony, and give them new insight to their newest team member.

**Team Solidarity**

**Harder**

Kate glanced up from her report as the elevator dinged. Tony sauntered out of the elevator and into the bullpen. Tim sat at his desk, furiously hacking his way into yet another top secret computer system. Kate frowned as Tony took a detour to Tim's desk before heading to his own.

"How's it goin', Probalicious?" Tony once again took a dig at McGee. Kate sighed. She almost felt sorry for McGee. He took the brunt of Tony's jokes more often than not. Tony continued to badger McGee until McGee excused himself, claiming that he needed to bring some evidence to Abby. He didn't fool Kate, however. She saw the tell-tale dejected look on his face. Tony had gotten to him. Again.

Once McGee was out of earshot, Kate whirled on Tony, fixing him with her death glare. "Why do you always do that to him? You know it's not right. You're supposed to be inspiring confidence in him, not grinding him into itty-bitty pieces and spitting on him."

Tony leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "Well, Katie…" he drawled.

"Don't call me Katie!" She quickly glanced around for spectators and then moved closer to him, hissing, "And I want a _real_ answer, not some lame excuse for this juvenile behavior." She perched on the edge of his desk. "Well? I'm waiting." She cocked an eyebrow.

Tony closed his eyes, rubbing a hand across his forehead, as if trying to get rid of a headache. He sighed, opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it again.

"Tony, I really-"

"He's too soft." Kate almost missed the murmured words. She wasn't sure that she had heard Tony correctly. Her eyes widened, and she leaned forward, whispering just as softly,

"What was that?"

"He needs to toughen up. If he can't handle my teasing, there's no way he'll be able to handle an interrogation, much less his own team. It's better he learns from me in small doses than the from someone who'll throw him to the dogs."

Kate blinked. "Let me get this straight. By essentially hazing him, you think you're doing him a favor?"

"In the long run." The words came out on a sigh. To Kate, Tony's face looked grim. Their eyes met and held, each wanting the other to see their point of view.

Kate sighed and eased off his desk. "I personally think there are better ways to go about it. You go your way, and I'll go mine." She shrugged. "I just hope that someday he'll forgive you," she muttered as she headed back to her seat.

Tony's gaze strayed to the elevator doors. "Me too, Kate. Me too."

**Better**

Hunched over his computer, with an intense look of concentration on his face, Tim raced after the fleeing signal. It ricocheted through several international networks, and suddenly vanished in Japan's convoluted ties.

"Damn it!"

Tony and Kate's heads whipped around, surprised to hear the expletive burst from the soft-spoken, stammering man. Tim jumped out of his chair. Tony's eyes slid over to Kate, and he pursed his lips in a silent whistle. Kate, for her part, stared, eyes wide open. She blinked. She considered getting up to help him, even started to get out of her chair to offer him support. She was his friend, after all. Then she noted her complete lack of hacking skills, winced, and aborted the attempt, knowing that she would be more of a hindrance than a help. Both her eyes and Tony's were locked on McGee's desk. The rest of the bullpen was suddenly dead silent, as if anticipating an impending train wreck.

McGee, meanwhile, simply stared at his computer screen blankly. He slowly sank to his seat, his elbows hitting the desk. Unfortunately, they hit his keyboard and mouse as well, and they went crashing toward the floor. McGee grabbed at the keyboard in a desperate attempt to spare it some abuse, but in the process pressed a combination of keys that the computer couldn't compute. McGee's computer beeped once, twice, and then flicked to the blue screen of death. McGee sank to his knees and groaned, ducking under his desk to grapple with his once extremely cooperative computer. He'd have to completely reboot, or possibly replace, his computer. And it had all of this case's work on it.

"Boss's gonna kill me…"

"Why's that, McGee?"

McGee jerked upright, promptly hitting the back of his head on the underside of his desk. Tony and Kate winced in sympathy, both for the impending headache and the scare itself. Of course Gibbs would be right behind him when he said that. "No reason, Boss." McGee staggered as he clambered back into his chair. Gibbs's gaze then flicked toward Tony and Kate, and they had the good sense to turn back to their computer screens, not wanting to draw the wrath of Gibbs on themselves. Both became intensely focused on their own computers, and the bustle of the bullpen resumed.

Gibbs exited and a minute later returned with a bag of frozen peas for the back of McGee's head. "Thanks, Boss," he murmured, embarrassed. Gibbs then leaned over McGee's shoulder, placing one hand on the back of his chair and the other on his desk, and pinned him with _that_ look. McGee gaped like a fish out of water, and then slumped, defeated. "I lost the transaction from the Delaney case, after following it for hours! I got frustrated, and I knocked over-"

"McGee."

"-and then _this_ showed up on my screen-"

"McGee!"

"-gonna kill me because we have to start all over, and Abby will hide all forensic evidence-"

"McGEE!!" Reality reasserted itself with a light Gibbs-slap to the top of his head.

"Yes, Boss." McGee, smartly, shut up.

"Keep on it, McGee. DiNozzo, Kate, with me. We caught another case." All three headed for the elevator.

"But, Boss, he's really, really good."

Gibbs did a quick about face and stalked over to McGee, planted his hands on his desk, leaned in, and looked him straight in the eye.

"You're better, Tim. Even with a lump on your head." And then he was gone. McGee could have sworn he saw a smirk cross Gibbs's face as he turned to leave.

McGee blinked in shock. _He called me Tim._ Tim shook his head a bit, and set to fixing his computer, a slow grin gracing his face in spite of the growing goose egg on the back of his head. He'd have his computer operational and find that transaction by day's end.

**Faster**

"Wearing a cup this time, Probie?" Tony smirked as he came up behind McGee.

McGee sighed. "Yes, Tony, I am. Believe it or not, I'm a fast study when it comes to pain."

Tony smirked. He circled Tim, leaning over his shoulder and whispered in sotto. "Well, Kate was looking particularly feisty this morning, if you know what I mean. I think you're in for it."

McGee winced. "Yeah, I probably am. After that last time…" He mentally reviewed the many ways that Kate had intimately introduced him to the floor mats and grimaced.

"Yeah…well, good luck with that, Probie. It's been nice knowin' ya." Tony quickly ducked out the gym doors as he saw Kate approaching. McGee simply stood his ground, used to this routine. He and Kate had been meeting weekly to improve his hand-to-hand skills.

Kate's grin was a bit feral. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," McGee quipped, and together they strode toward the tumbling mats.

What neither Kate nor McGee realized was that Tony had not actually left the gym. He was simply out of sight. Being a witness to this kind of beat-down didn't happen all too often in Tony's experience, and in his opinion, the opportunity to rib McGee once again was too good to pass up.

Kate took a moment to stretch, and centered herself on an exhale. "All right, let's see how much you remember from last week's lesson, McGee. Hand-to-hand's rule one?"

"Never show weakness."

"Two?"

"Never take your eyes off your-"

WHAM!

And just like that, Tim was on his back, gasping for breath. Tony cringed in remembered pain. He'd been there before.

Kate's leaned over McGee, meeting his groggy gaze with her fierce one.

"You broke the rule you were citing. You looked away from me."

"For a second!" Tim groaned.

"That's all it takes. You know, McGee, for someone so smart, you should know that it isn't enough to simply know the rules, or be able to recite them. You need to follow…"

Tony watched the scene for a moment. He shook his head. He knew what Kate was like when she was on a tear about something. He didn't need to hear this. He was about to turn away when something caught his eye.

As Kate rattled on about hand-to-hand's rule two, she failed to notice McGee's left hand, which was slowly creeping up his left side. Then, in the blink of an eye, said hand shot out and wrapped around her ankle, yanking it out from under her. Kate's eyes bulged and her yell ripped through the air as she crashed to the mat.

Tony chuckled, but couldn't help feeling sorry for McGee. He'd get double for that.

Kate stared up at McGee, who in that split second had rolled away from her and straddled her hips, just as he had done in their first session. This time, however, his chest heaving and his sweat-soaked fringe plastered to his face, he was aggressive. His expression quickly melted into apprehension, however, as he realized that she would most likely take that out of his hide. She sat up, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Way to go, Tim. You took advantage of my distraction. You're learning faster than I thought. Now let's see if we can improve your stance…"

Tony turned to leave the gym, astonished by what he had just witnessed. As he pushed his way through the gym's revolving doors, a grin crept across his features. He chuckled softly as he repeated Kate's words. "Way to go, Tim."

**Stronger**

_Looks like we caught another case,_ McGee thought as he grabbed his bag and hurried towards the elevator with Kate and Tony.

"Take a car." All three turned to see Gibbs sitting at his desk, reviewing a file.

"Boss, you're not coming with us?"

"I need to talk to Ducky. I'll ride in the truck."

"Got it, Boss." Tony said, and turned to leave, Kate and Tim trailing behind him.

Tony climbed into the driver's seat, tossing the keys impatiently. Kate slid into the passenger seat, and McGee, the "probie", contorted his legs so he could fit into the back seat. Tony, of course, slid his seat back as far as possible, just to provoke McGee. After a swift kick to said seat and an argument over what music they would listen to, they were on their way. All three settled in for the long drive ahead.

The weather turned out to be less than optimal. What had started out as an overcast day soon turned into a drizzle. Thunder rumbled and lightning flickered. Before the team knew it, sheets of rain cascaded down all windows, making it difficult to see. Even the windshield wipers at their fastest couldn't keep up. Thunder nearly rocked the car, and the lightning now lit up the entire sky.

"It figures we'd be on the road during the worst thunderstorm of the year. This place is hard enough to find as it is. Why is it that the crime scenes are always in the middle of nowhere when we have bad weather?" Tony griped uncharitably.

"Well, I'm sorry if a petty officer's death inconvenienced you." Kate snipped.

McGee fidgeted in the back seat, his eyes riveted on the windshield. "Uh, Tony? You might want to watch out for standing water…"

"Well, Pro-bay, I would, except I can't _see_ out the windshield right now." Tony was more than a little tense. McGee could see his white knuckles from where he was sitting.

McGee grew even more agitated. "I can't see anything either. I hope…"

The car suddenly slipped. "We lost traction!" Tony struggled with the wheel, but to no avail. "Brace yourselves!" Tony yelled. Kate's hands flew to the dashboard.

For a long moment, Tim felt like his stomach slid out of his body and was left five miles back. _Last time I felt like this, I was playing Crack the Whip with Sarah._ Thinking of these happier times, Tim braced himself as best as he could. Suddenly the car reared back and pitched forward. His head slammed into the headrest in front of him. He heard Kate's terrified screams, and then everything went black.

******************

Splashing and swearing filtered through Tim's consciousness. His chest felt heavy, and it was difficult to breathe. Tim groaned and tried to lift his head.

"McGee? You awake back there?" Tony sounded…concerned?

"Yeah…yeah, unfortunately. Oh, my head…"

"We'll have more problems than your head if we don't get out soon." Tony's voice was strained.

Tim pried his eyes open and gasped in surprise. The car was tilted, nose down, and he was hanging from his seatbelt. Kate was deathly still in the passenger seat. A wash of blood stained her pale face. He couldn't tell if she was breathing. Tony stretched his arm out to check on her, but couldn't quite reach. He swore again and grappled with his seatbelt.

"Seatbelt's jammed. I can't get to my buckle knife." Tony gulped, then cradled his left arm with his right. "I think my arm is broken," he gritted out.

"I have a bit more leeway. Just let me-" Tim leaned forward as far as he could, reaching for Kate. He sighed in relief as he touched her neck. "She's alive, but unconscious. It's no wonder with the head wound she's got."

"We've gotta get her out of here. The water's rising fast." Tony sounded grim. Tim's eyes widened. His eyes slid to where the car's pedals should have been, and was unnerved to see that water was creeping past Tony's knees.

Tim met Tony's eyes. "Must be a drainage ditch," Tim mumbled. "We all have to get out of here."

He wormed his fingers under his seatbelt and slowly but surely finagled his own knife out from under it. He frantically sawed through his seatbelt. As it released, he collapsed onto Tony's seat in a jumbled heap. A searing pain shot up Tim's arm. He grimaced and lifted his hand. The knife had slipped when he fell, and now a red slash in his hand welled blood. He couldn't stop though, didn't have time. A quick maneuver put him in prime position to cut Kate's belt. He hacked away at it, but this time the release of her seatbelt, combined with his blood-slicked hand, sent the knife plunging into the murky water. He quickly grabbed the collar of Kate's jacket to keep her from following.

"Damn it! Tony- sorry…"

"Don't worry about me right now. Get Kate somewhere safe. I'll keep."

"No! I won't leave you! I need to get that seatbelt-"

Tony twisted and somehow managed to put his hand on Tim's shoulder. "McGee, you need something to cut this belt with. Get Kate out and come back. Go!" As Tim stared Tony down, he saw the fear there war with responsibility for his team. Tim gave a short nod. Tony took his hand off McGee's shoulder and held out his arm. McGee leaned Kate against Tony so that Tony could wrap his arm around her. As he clambered for the door, his eyes darted perversely back to the water. It was up to Tony's thighs.

The door had obviously been thrown open on impact. He crouched in the doorway and eyed the water below cautiously. The water below rushed with a frightening ferocity, but he said a silent prayer and dropped into it, wincing as he landed. _A wrenched ankle,_ Tim thought. _At least, I hope that's all it is._

A few good yanks to Kate's door, and it screeched open. Tim bundled her into his arms and carried her to higher ground. He settled her in the shelter of a large rock, making sure that she was situated on her side. Frantically, he hunted for a something to cut with, _anything_.

"I need to get through the seatbelt. What can I use? What can I use?!?!" A flash of lightning illuminated Kate's knife, still strapped to her side. He grabbed it and shoved it through his belt.

Tim scrabbled down the side of the ditch and sloshed to Tony's side of the car. As he peered through the window, he gasped. Tony was in a more precarious position than he had thought. His seatbelt held him tight to his seat, which suspended him above the water, facing down. The water was mere inches from Tony's face. He had to get Tony out, now!

He yanked desperately on the slippery handle. The door was jammed! Try as he might, he couldn't get Tony's door open. He hit the window, and Tony lifted his head. "Cover your face." Tony did the best he could, considering his injuries, and Tim pounded the window with brutal force. Finally, it cracked, then shattered, showering Tony with glass. Tim winced as some of the glass he was clearing from the window sliced his arms.

"Time to get you out of there," Tim grunted, more to himself than to Tony. The water was an inch from Tony's lips. He reached in for Tony's seatbelt, but Tony stopped him.

"We have…a bigger problem, McGee." Tony panted. Tim looked at him in alarm.

"What is it?"

Tony pointed down. "My foot…it's trapped…down there, under the brake pedal."

Tim swore. There was no way that he could reach the floorboards, and Tony was quickly running out of time. He saw a look of resignation settle over Tony's face.

"No!" Tim grabbed Tony's chin and forced Tony to look at him. "You will not give up! I'll get something- find something…" He trailed off, his eyes darting this way and that. He needed something, now, and there was nothing.

During his desperate search, Tony had turned his face to the side. The water was now brushing his cheek. "McGee, Tim-" Tony's voice choked off, and his eyes pleaded with him in a way that his voice currently couldn't. His haunted eyes struck Tim almost like a physical blow, and Tim lost his balance. Arms flailing, he plunged into the dark water.

The water swirled and frothed around him. It tore at him, trying to get him to succumb to his exhaustion. He struggled against it, blindly grasping for some purchase on the slippery side of the ditch.

When he found his purchase, he also found his prize: a long, sturdy branch.

Tim struggled to the surface, lugging the branch behind him.

"Tony!" he yelled, hoping against hope that Tony could hear him. No response.

He slogged back to the car. Tony was conscious, but all of his energy was concentrated on keeping his mouth and nose out of the water.

"Tony! Tony, look at me." Tony's eyes focused on Tim. "Tony, I'm gonna get you out, just keep looking at me." The water touched Tony's lips. "And hold your breath." Tony gave a sharp nod, but Tim could see the panic there.

Tim stuck one end of the branch through the window and prodded, feeling for the brake pedal. Finally, _finally_, the branch caught! Tim wedged it firmly, and pressed down on his end, using the branch as a lever to force the twisted pedal off Tony's foot. It groaned, then moved a little.

"C'mon, Tim, you can do this. You _have_ to!" Tim muttered to himself. He glanced at Tony. He had precious little time left. The water covered Tony's entire face.

Tim put all of his weight into one, final thrust. The pedal gave! Tim grabbed Kate's knife and sliced through Tony's seatbelt. He grabbed Tony by the shoulders and hauled him through the window. Tony gasped, his chest heaving as he gulped air into his oxygen-starved lungs. Tim finally allowed himself a small smile of relief as he wrapped Tony's good arm over his shoulder. They leaned on one another as they scrabbled up the side of the ditch.

They stumbled over to Kate, who had just begun to come around. Tim settled Tony against the rock, checked Kate for a concussion, and then took Kate's phone, the driest of all of theirs, and called 9-1-1. He then collapsed against the rock himself, utterly exhausted. His vision grayed out; the black of unconsciousness was surely not far behind. A shake of his shoulder pushed the gray back. Four pieces of striped dress shirt appeared before him, and Tony, with Kate's help, wrapped his hands and arms. When finished, Tony leaned against him, and Tim pillowed Kate's head in his lap. The rain tapered off to a drizzle, and the sky grew a little less ominous. Tim looked at his partners, his _friends_, battered though they were, and knew that everything would turn out all right.

**************

Several hours and medical treatments later, the team, slightly worse-for-wear, met in Kate's hospital room. She was admitted for observation due to her concussion, and although they had wanted to admit Tim, he didn't have a concussion, and he insisted that he was fine, that the only treatment he needed was to be with his team. Tim and Tony were reluctant to leave Kate, even though the doctors all said that she was fine, that she'd be released in the morning if all went well. A bond had been formed today, and neither Tim nor Tony wanted to relinquish the closeness they had gained.

Gibbs and Ducky came to visit, of course. They were happy to see that none of the agents would be laid up for long, although Tony's broken foot and arm would keep him on desk duty for a couple of months. Tony retold the story animatedly, complete with sound effects. Ducky had related tales, of course, and regaled the trio of agents with tales of heroism. Try as they might, the three began to nod off.

Seeing this, Ducky begged off, saying that he had to go home to take care of his mother. Gibbs stood silently for a moment. He studied McGee's weary profile, strode over, and clasped his shoulder. Tim turned to see something akin to pride on his boss's face.

"Good work, McGee." He smiled gently, then turned and left.

Aside from the occasional nurse checking in, the only people left in the room were Tony, Tim, and Kate. A companionable silence fell over the room, each person lost to sleep or their own thoughts.

"He's right, you know."

Two heads turned to look at Kate, who had, to all appearances, dozed off. Her eyes were wide open now, and shimmering with tears. Tim's breath caught, and he stepped to the side of her bed and enfolded her in his arms, tucking her head underneath his chin. Her next words were muffled by his shirt.

"You were amazing out there. Thank you so much."

The tips of Tim's ears turned beet red. "Kate…"

"No, Tim. I don't want to hear that it wasn't a big deal, or that no thanks are necessary." She pushed back slightly and looked directly in his eyes. "We could have died tonight."

"She's right, you know." Tim's eyes flicked up to Tony, and Tony steadfastly met his gaze. "What you did tonight…it was impressive, Probie." That nickname had never sounded like less of an insult.

Tim stepped back from Kate's bed as his gaze slid to the floor. "Not that impressive. I was scared out of my mind."

"And yet look what you did," Kate gently prodded.

"A wise man once told me that courage is not the absence of fear, but-"

"-what you choose to do with it." Tim's voice joined Tony's. "Yeah, I've heard that before, too." He grinned bashfully. He cleared his throat and continued. "There was no choice. We're teammates, partners, _friends_. We don't leave our own behind."

Tony clapped Tim on the back, grinning. "You're stronger than you realize, Tim."

Tim shrugged, but he was beaming. "Oh, I'm sure you could have gotten out on your own."

Kate made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. "Well, maybe if Mr. Movie Buff over there had ever watched MacGyver…"

Tony DiNozzo was not one to miss a pop culture reference. He smiled beatifically. "Ah, MacGyver. Mid-80s to early 90s, played by Richard Dean Anderson. An adventure hero, very good-looking-"

"-and very resourceful. Hey Kate, do you think Tony could have gotten us out if he had a light bulb, fertilizer, and a paper clip?" Tim quipped.

A mischievous grin lit Tony's face. "I'll show you resourceful," Tony muttered, as he wadded up a hospital sheet as best he could. A muffled "Hey!" rang out a second later as the sheet ball hit Tim square in the chest and face.

Tony and Tim fell back into their normal banter, Tim giving as good as he got. They laughed and joked, and Kate even got a few digs in, despite her pounding headache. It had never felt so good to laugh.

Kate's eyes sparkled as she watched her boys. Both were laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces, and Tony had his good hand on Tim's shoulder. Kate beamed brightly, her earlier exhaustion forgotten. _Well, what do you know, _she mused._ Our Tim is growing up, and our team is stronger than ever._


End file.
